Monkeypox now arrived in the USA - Three European countries are also reporting the first cases

Created: 05/19/2022Updated: 05/19/2022 13:27

By: Jennifer Lanzinger

This electron micrograph provided by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) shows the monkeypox virus.

Four more cases have been recorded in the UK.

© Andrea Männel/RKI/dpa

Monkeypox has now also arrived in America, a first case was registered after a trip to Canada.

The RKI also warns doctors in this country.

New York – In most cases, they cause mild symptoms, but they can also have severe courses: monkeypox.

After several cases in Great Britain, Spain and Portugal, they have now also been found in the USA.

The Robert Koch Institute also published a statement on monkeypox this week.

Monkeypox has now also arrived in the USA: Three other countries are reporting the first cases

As the health authority CDC announced on Wednesday, the disease was registered in a resident of the state of Massachusetts in the northeast of the country.

The person had recently traveled to Canada, but the virus had been detected in the United States.

Monkeypox is usually transmitted through the air.

In some of the recent cases, however, experts suspected fluid infection because the patients were gay men.

In view of the cases in Great Britain, the Robert Koch Institute had recently made doctors in Germany aware of the virus infection.

RKI provides information about monkeypox - men in particular should be vigilant under certain circumstances

An article published by the RKI states that monkeypox should also be considered as a possible cause in the case of unclear smallpox-like skin changes if those affected have not traveled to certain areas.

Up to now, monkeypox has mainly been known to occur in some regions of Africa.

According to the RKI, men who have sex with men should “immediately seek medical care” if they have any unusual skin changes.

According to the health authority UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the number of recorded cases of the rare disease in Great Britain had increased to seven from Monday.

Two more cases had already been reported in the UK by Wednesday.

The two most recent cases in London and south-east England are not linked to travel to countries where the disease is endemic.

It is therefore possible that the contagion could have spread from person to person in Great Britain, the message said on Wednesday evening.

The first infection, which became known in Great Britain at the beginning of May, is said to be due to an infection in Nigeria.

According to the UKHSA, the virus disease usually causes only mild symptoms, but can also have severe courses.

Smallpox has been considered eradicated worldwide since 1980 after a major vaccination campaign.

Experts suspect that the monkeypox pathogen circulates in rodents, monkeys are considered false hosts.